Three unexpected facts about CoolSculpting

You’ve probably heard of ‘cryolipolysis’, or fat freezing by now – otherwise known as CoolSculpting.

It’s a way to target stubborn fat deposits around the hips, abdomen, thighs, upper arms and chin by killing the fat cells, without needing to undergo surgery or submit to needles.

As long as your fat is squishy and ‘grabbable’, you should be a candidate for the treatment – only fat that sits under the muscle can’t be reached by the machine, which needs to be able to suck the fat up into a nozzle to freeze it.

A woman grasps the fat pockets on the back of her hips
CoolSculpting can spot-treat stubborn pockets of fat around the hips, abdomen, thighs, upper arms and chin. Picture: Getty

And there are couple of things you may not know about CoolSculpting technology.

It’s from Harvard

The technology was developed by renowned Harvard University scientists! They discovered that fat tissue can be damaged by cooling it to temperatures that do not harm surrounding skin, nerves, blood vessels, or muscle tissue.

Since then an analysis of data from more than 1,000 people who underwent cryolipolysis found that fat in the treated areas was reduced by about 25%, on average.

It was inspired by... popsicles

The theory behind cryolipolysis is that fat cells are more sensitive to cold temperatures than other types of surrounding body cells.

Icy cold popsicles can cause dimples by freezing the fat in the cheeks.
Popsicles were the surprising inspiration behind CoolSculpting technology. Picture: Getty

The cooling process was born from an observed medical phenomenon called “popsicle panniculitis”, whereby some infants got dimples due to sucking on a popsicle or ice cube. The idea that cold can selectively affect fat was the insight behind the proven cryolipolysis science on which the CoolSculpting technology is based.

There’s (little to) no pain, and no downtime

You may experience some minor discomfort when the chill factor starts to kick in, but this is soon replaced by numbness thanks to the extreme cold. And unlike other fat reduction procedures, CoolSculpting doesn’t require any needles, surgery or recovery time. You really can have the procedure done in your lunch break and head straight back to work afterwards.

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